MaDD Blogger

Maybe Dubya should have nominated Julia...

The New York Times is following up on a story that was broken Thursday by the Los Angeles Times about new Supreme Court nominee Judge John G. Roberts Jr. Apparently in 1996 when Roberts was an appellate lawyer for the Washington firm of Hogan & Hartson he gave advice to a group of gay rights advocates helping them win a landmark 1996 ruling protecting gay men and lesbians from state-sanctioned discrimination. Roberts did not disclose this particular fact during any of the inquiries performed prior to his nomination last month so the Times story has caused a shift on both sides of the isle and at the very least a little embarrassment to President Bush who considered Roberts a "safe" nominee.

Democrats who were planning to at least make Roberts road a little bumpier are now appearing to back off a bit based on this latest revelation but the White House spent the better part of yesterday contacting major conservative backers like Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention some of whom are obviously considering pulling support for the nomination which would obviously effect the support of any Republicans that depend on groups like the SBC to shore up their base during election time. Some of you may remember that the Southern Baptists were involved in a rather embarrassing campaign against The Walt Disney Corporation for allowing "Gay Days" to go on at Disney World. Other groups that have weighed in include Focus on the Family and the Republican National Coalition for Life whose executive director Colleen Parro had already raised questions about the Roberts nomination.

I've been a Republican for over a decade so for me this is where you really see what George W. Bush is really made of. I was in favor of Bush backing Karl Rove even though I honestly felt that Rove may have fucked up and leaked classified information to the press. Take the politics out of it for a moment. True friendship is often measured not during the good times but during the bad. It's easy to stick by someone when everything is going good but when the shit hits the fan you will always know who your true friends are. I always wonder if all the Democrats that were calling for the President to distance himself from Rove would do the same if it were someone that was close to them. Ask former FOBs Dick Morris, Web Hubble, and Susan MacDougal how they felt about the way Bill Clinton stood by them when the going got tough.

Roberts is the right nominee for the job and with Bush being in his second term I feel that he does not need to cowtow to the more extreme factions of my party who I'm sure will try to pressure him to pull support for Roberts nomination. That may be a determining factor because with mid-term elections coming up it may be time for the ass kissing to begin. I can't imagine any southern Republicans whose seats are up next year backing Roberts if their poll numbers don't support it. The Christians would apply pressure like a vice grip and Dubya would be forced to pick a new nominee though it might be possible via newfound Democratic support to still get the nomination through. I'm definitely keeping an eye on this one.

Thanks!

{ 9:30 AM, August 5, 2005 } { Posted by Karael }

Thanks for the 'welcome' to Justblogme, and also for taking a peek at my first blog. It's an easy to use site - so thanks!

GOOD ARTICLE

{ 12:45 PM, August 5, 2005 } { Posted by JOHN }

Hey Antonio,
This article is a great presentation. But I never thought of congratulating you on your weblog efforts as I was just finding out about the concept.